1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile communication system, and more particularly to an apparatus and method for transmitting a call holding voice message in a mobile communication terminal.
2. Background of the Related Art
Generally, mobile communication terminals have basic functions for making and receiving calls. When a user makes a call using a keypad in accordance with a variety of dialing methods to dial the telephone number of a counterpart (i.e., called party), who is to receive the call, the call is transmitted to the counterpart. When the called party responds to the call from the calling party, he can enter into a telephone conversation with the caller. The dialing methods may include a method in which the entire combination of digits of a desired telephone number is inputted, a method in which an entry number assigned as an abbreviated dial number for a desired telephone number is inputted, a method in which the last four digits of a desired telephone number are inputted, or a method in which a voice recognizable as a desired telephone number is inputted.
When the calling party or the called party desires to transmit a message to the counterpart during the course of a telephone conversation, he should transmit the message in the form of a voice by directly vibrating the vocal cords. However, it may be often difficult to transmit a message in the form of a voice due to personal reasons or surrounding circumstances. For example, it is difficult for the user of a mobile communication terminal to accurately transmit an intended message in the form of a voice to the counterpart when the user is located in a public area, such as a concert hall or a theater, which require observance of the proprieties of telephone communications, when the user is in conference or at a table, or the user is under severe noisy circumstances.
FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating a related art procedure for responding to an incoming call in a mobile communication terminal. The related art call responding procedure carried out in the mobile communication terminal will now be described.
As shown in FIG. 1, the procedure starts and continues to step S101. When the user of the terminal receives an incoming call under the condition in which he is located in a public area such as a library or in conference, calling bells or vibrations are generated from the terminal in response to the incoming call in step S101. If it is determined in step S102 that a response to the incoming call can be made, the user opens the flip cover of the terminal or depresses a call reception button after moving to an area where he can respond to the incoming call. Then, the user responds to the incoming call and enters into a telephone conversation with the caller in step S103.
Under a situation in which the user cannot respond to the incoming call in step S102, a reception-impossible message is transmitted to the caller after a predetermined period of waiting time in step S104. For example, the reception-impossible message may be “[t]he user cannot respond to the incoming call now.” Alternatively, the reception-impossible message may be “[d]o you want to leave a message in a voice box?”. In response to the reception-impossible message, the caller may immediately stop the call or stop the call after leaving a desired voice message in the voice box provided by a server.
However, as described above, the related art call responding procedure has various disadvantages. For example, the related art call responding procedure has a disadvantage in that while the user is in the process of moving to an area where he can respond to the incoming call, the caller may have a consideration that it is impossible for the user to receive the call so that the caller hang up to stop the call. In such a case, the user cannot engage in a telephone conversation with the caller. This may cause a serious disadvantage when the telephone conversation is associated with an important affair. Further, the caller leaves a voice message in the voice box, there is an inconvenience in that the user should connect to the server of mobile communication service in order to hear the message.
The above references are incorporated by reference herein where appropriate for appropriate teachings of additional or alternative details, features and/or technical background.